Fender for elevators



".PATENTED 5, 1904.

H. L. CGNARY. FENDER PoR ELBVATORS.

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UNITED STATES Patented .Tammy 5, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

FENDER FOR ELEvAToRs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,702, dated January 5, 1904. Application tiled December 12, 1902 Serial No. 134,958. (No model.)

State of Massachusetts,have invented newand useful Improvements in Fenders for Elevators, of which the following is aspecification. My invention relates to safety, appliances for elevators, and has for its object ,to provide a fender for elevators which will add to the safety of persons using the latter.

Many accidents occur in the operation of y elevators thrugh the carelessness or inadvertence of persons standing on landings with part of their body-as, for example, their foot-projecting into the elevator-well and into the path of the elevator when the latter is descending. Oftentimes also through the carelessness of the operator of the elevator the door to the well is opened before the car in descending has reached the level of the landing, and under such circumstances it has frequently happened that persons vwaiting on the landing have without observing the position of theA car with due care stepped forward when the door was opened, so as to place their foot or other part of their body in the path of the car, with injury to that personas the result. My fender is designed to prevent persons being injured under such circumstances.

My invention resides in the combination, with an elevator-ear, of a fender movably mounted on the car, so that when engaged by a projecting body on a landing or other fixed point it is moved in linevwith the wall of the ear and by that movement throws the body to one side out of the path of the car.

In the best form of my invention the fen-Y der is arranged below the car and comprises a swinging frame pivoted to the car, so that when the car is descending and the fender strikes a body projecting from a landing or other support the fender is swung on the pivotV toward one side of the car, carrying the body with it out of the path of the oar. Herein I have utilized the weight of the fender at one side of the pivot to hold the fender in normal position, and as in practice it is desirable that the instrument be quite sensitive, owing to the dependence for its action upon its frictional engagement with the object in its path, I preferably provide a weight orits equivalent upon the opposite side of the pivot to connterbalance part, but not all, of the weight of the fender. Y

In the accompanying drawings, which show an embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is an elevator car and well embodying the preferr-ed form of my invention.

view of the fender detached. Fig. 3 shows the operation of the fender.

Having reference to the drawings, l represente one side ot an elevator-well, and 2 a f landing. Within the Well is shown a portion of an elevator-car 3, the doorway of lwhich is shown at 4.

Upon the under side of the door 4l of the car 3 adjacent the entrance 4 is fastenedV a 'pair of brackets 5, in which is journaled the ends of a bar 6. Fast on the bar 6 is a frame 7, carrying on one side of bar 6 a curved plate 8, and provided at the opposite side of bar 6 is a pairl of arms 9, on each of which is fixed an adjustable weight 10. The purpose of the weights 10 is to nearly but not quite counterbalance the Weight of frame 7 and plate 8, the slight preponderance in weight fof the frame and plate at that side of bar 6 acting Vto hold said parts normally at their llowest point,.with plate 8 below the sill l1 of the entrance 4 and with the arms '71 of frame 7 against the under side of the door 41 of the car, which serves to limit the extent of downward movement of plate.

When car 3 in descending carries plate 8 against an object on the landing 2 and projecting into the'elevator-well, as indicated at 12, the frietional contact of that object with the plate 8 arrests the downward travel of the plate and causes it and frame 7 to swing upwardly relatively to car 3 on the axis of bar 6. This relative movement between car 3 and frame Icarries plate 8 out from beneath and to one side of car 3, (see Fig. 3,) and inasmuch as the axis of bar 6 travels vertically in a straight line 13 13 it follows that the resulting force applied to theobject 12 through frame 7 and plate 8 is on a line substantially parallel with landing 2 or, in other words, crosswise of line 13 13, so that the object 12 is slid on landing 2 back out of an elevation, partly in section, of portions of Fig. 2 is a plan IOC the path of and to one side of the elevatorcar. In other words, l have by the interposition of mechanism transformedthe dangerous vertical motion of the elevator-car into a beneficial horizontal motion which pushes harmlessly out of the p ath of the elevator any object in its path.

Guards have heretofore been applied to elevators which consisted of a plate depending from and fast to the sill of the car and of such length that before the car in descending approached a landing near enough for the operator of the car to reach and open the Well-door the lower end of the guard had passed the landing, so that when the door was opened, even though the car was still above the landing, the space between the bottom of the car and the landing was closed by the guard. The objections to such devices, however, are that they are useless on elevators where there are no well-doors and in cases where the well-doors are left open either purposely or inadvertently, for there is obviously as much danger to the person from the lower edge of the guard as there is from the nnguarded lower edge of the car. On the other hand, my fender is useful on elevators of 4all kinds, and I have found from practice that it fully meets all the requirements essential to an elevator appliance for serving the purpose for which it is designed.

I claim- 1. The combination with an elevator-car, of a fender carried by said car and movable to a position in line with the wall of the car, and means for supporting said fender on said car in such manner as to permit the fender to move automatically when struck by an obj ect in the path of the car and shove the object out of range of the moving car.

2. The combination with an elevator-car, of a fender carried by said car and movable to a position in line with the wall of the car, and means for pivotally support-in g said fender on said car in such manner as to permit the fender to rock automatically on its pivotal support when struck by an object in the path of the car and shove the object out of range of the moving car.

3. The combination with an elevator-car, of a fender carried by said car and movable to 5o a position in line with the wall of the car, and means for supporting said lfender below the licor of the car in such manner as to permit the fender to move automatically when struck by an object in the path of the car and shove the object out of range of the moving car.

4. The combination with an elevator-car, of a fender carried by said car and movable to a position in line with the wall of the car, and means for pivotally supporting the said fen- 6o der below the floor of the car in such manner as to permit the fender to rock automatically on its pivotal support when struck by an 0bject in the path of the car and shove the object out of range of the moving car.

5. The combination with an elevator-car, of a movable fender below the floor of the car adapted to be swung into line with the front vwall of the car when the surface of the fender engages an object projecting into the path of 7o the car.

6. The combination with an elevator-car, of a pivoted, counterbalanced fender below the {ioor of the car adapted to be swung by contact with an object in the path of the car into line with the front wall of the car.

7. The combination with an elevator-car, of a fender supported on said car in such manner as to be automatically movable to a position in line With the Wall of the car when 8o struck by an object in the path of the car, said fender having an inclined face to shove the object out of range of the moving car.

Signed by me, at Boston, Massachusetts, this 10th day of December, 1902.

HOYT L. CONARY.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH T. BRENNAN, OLIvER MITCHELL. 

